Oh, Mom, Claire just told me. Why didn’t you call? They can’t just cast you off like that. I wish you’d told me you had an appointment today. Do you want me to talk to Dr. Cooper?”

I resonated with Marti on many levels! Being in the last chapter of your life, single, and facing her terminal cancer, she wants to control things her way and die with dignity. Don't we all? She refused to do the deathbed confession thing. Her girls would find out later. She did not want to die surrounded by the girls and their families. I get it; same here. I had both the Kindle book and the Audio book. I really like reading this way. The narration by Barrie Kreinik was done very well. Reading the book allows me to absorb all the writing and highlight passages that I thought presented the book’s message. The main character is Sophie (Sophia), who is 12-years-old. She has some experiences with racism from other teenage girls in her upper-class mixed neighborhood. Sohpie's family is light, and the sister is able to pass for white, and Sophie learns some lessons from her sister's experiences, too. The family has a maid, Mrs. Baylor, who mothers Sophie a bit and opens up to Sophie about part of her past.How differently the Geller sisters’ lives would have turned out had C. J. Reynolds not been released from prison that February. Or suppose he’d been released but had not decided to restart his life on Mount Desert Island, Maine, where Marti Geller’s old waterfront house might or might not be coming up for sale. Suppose that instead of getting a flight from Columbia, South Carolina, to Bangor, C.J. had instead returned to his hometown of Aiken to try to make amends. Near the end of 2019 I read Therese Anne Fowler’s A Good Neighborhood, which I loved, but it’s the only other book of hers I’ve read. I’d hoped to enjoy this one as much, or nearly as much, but… alas, it was apparently not meant to be. That theme of Jesus, God’s fulfilled promise, being with us continued. In Matthew chapter 1, Jesus is Immanuel, “God with us.” In the last words of Matthew 28, Jesus says, “ I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Despite her accomplishments as a pediatric cardiologist, Claire, the middle daughter, has always felt like the Geller misfit. Recently divorced, Claire’s secret unrequited love for the wrong man is slowly destroying her, and she’s finding that her expertise on matters of the heart unfortunately doesn’t extend to her own. Mostly, this novel was all those things. It’s a character driven (soap opera-ish novel). And although it moves unsteadily at times - I was involved right up to the conclusion.

Claire, the middle child, is recently divorced from her husband, Chad. Although she is an accomplished and highly regarded pediatric cardiologist --- every parent’s dream! --- she thinks that her boring life can’t hold a candle to those of her sisters’. Her achievements, while hard-won and impressive, are not written up in magazines and journals like theirs are, and now that her marriage has unraveled, she doesn’t even have a stable relationship to brag about. What she does have, though, is a terrible secret: for years she has been hopelessly, desperately in love with a completely unattainable man.

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We don’t just want people, we want disciples! A church full of disciples of Jesus will be radical to this world. They will transform their communities! They will be beacons of light for the Gospel of Jesus and the supernatural love of God! I had expected ‘messy-family-dramedy’…..(complicated relationships, marriages, divorce, parenting, career’s, difficulties, lies, secrets, betrayals, unfaithfulness, mistakes, unfairness, vulnerabilities, regret, loss, questions of thyself, lessons learned of thyself, A Great Undoing”, etc.)…

The middle daughter Claire is a doctor who is recently divorced after her husband discovered she ‘settled’ for him. Claire juggles her career and child and dog, adding up to tension and high blood pressure. The story begins with the family hiring a new housekeeper, Mrs Baylor. Sophie and Mrs Baylor don't hit it off. Sophie misses their previous housekeeper while Mrs Baylor assumes that Sophie thinks she is better than her because her skin is lighter. Today is the end of the book. Today, we learn what Jesus left us with before He left the earth to be with the Father in heaven. Church, it all comes down to this. Jesus wants disciples. He wants those who are willing to be baptized into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Those who will identify with Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection through water baptism. Those who will identify with and unite with a local church filled with other disciples of Jesus.Rather than confess on her death bed, she is hoping the three daughters and grandchildren will stay away and let her die in peace with Delia, her hospice nurse by her side who knows the drill, and then make a video to confess her past and let her will speak for her. Enter C.J. Reynolds, an enigmatic southerner ex-con with his own hidden past, who complicates the situation. All is not what it seems, and everything is about to change. With a modern contemporary Jane Austen vibe infused with art and literary elements, IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THIS is a splendid novel —engaging, moving, and witty. Rich in character, a perfect book club choice for further discussions. Jesus didn’t want His followers to stay in Galilee, although the go did include Galilee. Jesus doesn’t want us to stay in Bartow or Polk County, although the go does include Bartow and Polk County. Fowler is excellent at describing her characters- their personalities, their strengths and flaws…..delivering engrossing contemporary stories.

Jesus said all nations; that is, all peoples of the world. Every tribe, every tongue, every nation! We are to go! In the meantime, Arlo looks up to C.J. as a father figure, who lost his parents in a plane crash, and Ms. Callaghan is worried about his future since she is getting up in age and bad health. Arlo and CJ develop a strong bond—love these two together with the grandmother. CJ also has a grown daughter who lives in Portland. Some of you may have never lived on mission for God. You have been missing out on what you were created to do for a very long time. Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for an advance copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. I listened to the audiobook for IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THIS and found the narration and the performance entertaining. Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Therese Anne Fowler for an ARC of this book! Now available as of 6.7!**

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Three woman who join together to rent a large space along the beach in Los Angeles for their stores—a gift shop, a bakery, and a bookstore—become fast friends as they each experience the highs, and lows, of love.